Atorvastatin therapy is associated with a decrease in inflammatory response and organ dysfunction in septic patients

Background Sepsis is associated with a hyperactive inflammatory system, leading to an overproduction of proinflammatory mediators that contribute toward septic shock, multiple organ failure, and death. As statins have anti-inflammatory properties that are independent of their lipid-lowering abilities, we hypothesized that septic patients may benefit from atorvastatin treatment.Patients and methods In this prospective study, 60 adult patients were admitted to the ICU, with early sepsis criteria. Patients were randomly assigned to two groups: an atorvastatin group thatreceived 40 mg atorvastatin for 10 days and a control group (statin free). The primary outcomes were the time of decrease in C-reactive protein, interleukin 6 levels, and white blood cells count and the secondary outcomes were hemodynamic variables, organ dysfunction, and failure that were defined by the sequential organ failure assessment score and hospital mortality from any cause during the study period (10 days). Results The atorvastatin group had highly significantly lower white blood cells counts, interleukin 6, C-reactive protein, and sequential organ failure assessment scores (P 0.001) compared with the control group. However, there was no significant difference between both groups in hemodynamic variables and mortality (P 0.05) during the study period. Conclusion Atorvastatin ameliorates the inflammatory response in septic patients and may improve the short-term outcome.